Néstor Girolami won his maiden WTCC race in very wet conditions at Ningbo International Speedpark in China as Thed Björk has claimed the World Championship lead by a mere half point for Polestar Cyan Racing.
Pouring rain all day meant that the main race was started behind the Volvo V60 Polestar Safety Car and later stopped, with Néstor Girolami crossing the line in first position. The regulations state that half points should be awarded under these finishing conditions.
“It is really strange to claim my first WTCC win like this. But it is nonetheless a victory and the team has done an amazing job all weekend. We proved yesterday that we are fastest of all in the rain by claiming pole. I agree with the decision of the stewards to stop the race early despite that I wanted to race for it, they are responsible for our safety and I respect that,” said Néstor Girolami.
Thed Björk crossed the line in third position to take his seventh podium finish of the season and has claimed the championship lead by 0.5 points.
“This is no doubt one of the most eventful race weekends I have ever experienced. My goal was to claim the World Championship lead and I have done just that. We had some issues that we need to learn from moving forward, but the really positive thing that we bring with us to the next race in Japan is that we finally are on pace in the wet. I am happy with this weekend,” said Thed Björk.
Nicky Catsburg claimed the team’s third podium finish of the weekend at Ningbo International Speedpark by crossing the line in third position in the opening race.
“This has been a weekend of ups and downs for me. We didn’t get things right for qualifying and we need to work on that. I am happy with the podium finish, the team has scored vital points for both championships and I look forward to the next race in Japan,” said Nicky Catsburg.
The victory and three podiums in the FIA WTCC Race of China has elevated Polestar Cyan Racing to leading both championships, heading Honda by seven points in the manufacturers’ championship.
”We came to China trailing behind in both championships with the objective to lead both when we leave. Mission completed thanks to a super effort from everyone in the team under very tough conditions. We are heading to Japan with the objective to defend our lead,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
The FIA WTCC Race of Japan takes place on October 28-29th: wtcc.polestar.com
WTCC Race of China
Circuit: Ningbo International Speedpark
Length: 4000 m
Lap record (WTCC): 2:03.753 (Guerrieri)
Results
Race 1 – Top 5
1 Esteban Guerrieri Chevrolet Cruze 15 laps
2 Yann Ehrlacher Lada Vesta +2.893
3 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 +11.671
4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +17.409
5 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Civic +17.840
…
13 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +5 laps
DNF Néstor Girolami Volvo S60
Race 2 – Top 5
1 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 2 laps
2 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.851
3 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +2.537
4 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Civic +3.347
5 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée +4.562
…
7 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 +8.113
Q3
1 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 1:58.049
2 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.320
3 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +0.487
4 Rob Huff Citroën C-Elysée +0.808
5 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Civic +2.991
Q2 – Top 5
1 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Civic 1:58.485
2 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 +0.023
3 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.093
4 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +0.177
5 Rob Huff Citroën C-Elysée +0.209
…
8 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 +1.540
Q1 – Top 5
1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 1:58.243
2 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 +0.352
3 Rob Huff Citroën C-Elysée +0.518
4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.551
5 Gabriele Tarquini Honda Civic +0.612
…
9 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 +1.377
Championship Standings
Drivers’ – Top 5
1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 200,5 pts
2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 200 (-0,5)
3 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 198,5 (-2)
4 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 177,5 (-22,5)
5 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 164 (-36,5)
…
9 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 88 (-112,5)
Manufacturers’
1 Volvo 647,5 pts
2 Honda 640,5 (-7)
Compensation weights for China
Model – Time difference – Weight
Honda Civic – +0.0 sec – +80 kg
Volvo S60 Polestar – 0.1 sec – +70 kg
Citroën C-Elysée – +0.3 sec – +50 kg
Chevrolet Cruze – +1.0 sec – +0 kg
Lada Vesta – +1.6 sec – +0 kg
TV Schedule
https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv
http://www.eurosportplayer.com
2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship Entry List
No – Driver – Team – Car
3 – Tom Chilton – GBR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – HUN – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
8 – Aurélien Panis – FRA – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
9 – Tom Coronel – NED – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
12 – Rob Huff – GBR – Münnich Motorsport – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
22 – Manuel Fernandes – POR – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
24 – Kevin Gleason – USA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – MOR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
27 – John Filippi – FRA – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
34 – Ryo Michigami – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
61 – Néstor Girolami – ARG – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
62 – Thed Björk – SWE – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
63 – Nicky Catsburg – NED – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
68 – Yann Ehrlacher – FRA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC
86 – Esteban Guerrieri – ARG – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
99 – Daniel Nagy – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
## – Gabriele Tarquini – ITA – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
FIA World Touring Car Championship 2017 Calendar
WTCC Race of Morocco (Marrakech): 7-9 April
WTCC Race of Italy (Monza): 28-30 April
WTCC Race of Hungary (Hungaroring): 12-14 May
WTCC Race of Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife): 25-27 May
WTCC Race of Portugal (Vila Real): 23-25 June
WTCC Race of Argentina (Termas de Río Hondo): 15-16 July
WTCC Race of China (Shanghai Ningbo Circuit): 13-15 October
WTCC Race of Japan (Twin Ring Motegi): 27-29 October
WTCC Race of Macau (Circuit de Guia): 17-19 November
WTCC Race of Qatar (Losail International Circuit): 30 November-1 December
Contact Details
Johan Meissner, Media Relations
+46(0)70 241 3234
About Polestar
Polestar is Volvo Car Group’s performance road car brand. From 2017, Polestar will become a new separately-branded electrified high-performance car company, offering a portfolio of bespoke Polestar cars. Polestar will enjoy specific technological and engineering synergies with Volvo Cars and benefit from significant economies of scale as a result of its connection to Volvo. These synergies will allow it to design, develop and build world beating electrified high performance cars.
Today, Polestar builds the S60 and V60 Polestar, 367hp performance road cars with over 250 developments over-and-above the standard Volvo products. It also offers Polestar Engineered performance hardware upgrades and engine software optimisations for existing Volvo products.
About Cyan Racing
Founded in 1996 and today known as Cyan Racing, the privately owned and operated company has been Volvo Car Group’s official team in motorsport since its conception. Cyan Racing has claimed multiple titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60. Today, the company enjoys success on track with the Polestar road car brand as Polestar Cyan Racing in pursuit of both the World Touring Car Championship and Swedish GT, racing the Volvo S60 Polestar road going performance car.